Method of extracting oil-free nonoxidized juice



R. B. M KINNIS METHOD OF EXTRACI'ING OIL FREE NONOXIDIZED JUICE Filed May 6, 1940 f/aJ 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 WHOLE CITRUS FRUIT QUARTERING THE FRUIT IMMEDIATELY PASSINGTTHE FRUIT QUAR- TERS BETWEEN GRADUALLY CONVERGING PRESSURE MEMBERS IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF INERT GAS TO FLATTEN THE QUAR- TERS AND EXPRESS THE JUICE REMOVING SEED FROM BETWEEN THE CONVERGING PRESSURE MEMBERS FURTHER EXPRESSING OF JUICE AFTER SEED REMOVAL STRAINING THE JUICE IN AN OXY- GEN FREE ATMOSPHERE FLASH PASTEURIZING THE STRAINED JUICE I (CANNING THE STRAINED JUICE UNDER CONDITIONS To PREVENT OXYDATION OF THE JUICE DISCHARGING PEEL CANNING THE JUICE UNDER CON- DITIONS TO PREVENT OXYDATION PASTEURIZING Tl: JUICE IN CANS gwuem bow Dec. 21, 1943. R. B. Mc KINNlS 2,337,261 V METHOD QF EXTBACTING OIL FREE NdNOXIDIZED JUICE Find Ma 6, 1940 2 Sheets Sheet 2 causing the juice to mix juices is injured Patented Dec. 21,

N OFFlCE METHOD OF EXTRACTING OIL-FREE NQNOXIDIZED JUICE a Ronald B. McKinnis, Winter Haven, Fla.,

or, by mesne assignments, to Ronald assign- McKinnis, doing business as McKinnis Foods,

Winter Haven, Fla.

Application'May 6, 1940, Serial No. 333,671

"12 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of extracting juice from fruits and vegetables, and. is particularly applicable torextraction of juice from citrus fruits, though it is not exclusively of use with fruits of that type.

One of the desirable features of a process for juice extraction is to provide means for obtain tively small, such as by quartering them, I am enabled to minimize the rupturing of the .oil sacs in the peel. This feature of minimizing'the rupturing of the oil sacs is accomplishedfirst by ing substantially all of the juice, but without v with the essential oils of the skin. If too much essential oil gets into the juice of oranges or grapefruit, the taste of the juice is objectionable.

Furthermore, it is desirable that the extracting be performed under non-oxidizing conditions. The delicate flavor and vitamin content'of fruit by exposure to the oxygen of the air. This deterioration occurs on relatively short exposure, and is progressive. That is to say, after the juice has been canned the deterioration oi the-flavor and vitamin content continues if oxidation processes have been initiated prior to canning.

Objects of the present invention are to provide a process which will be simple and inexpensive; and which will provide a juice which is substantially uncontaminated by the essential oils of the skin or peel. o

A further object of the invention is to provide a process in which oxidation of the juices is substantially inhibited. i

In general my process consists in extracting the juice from fruits and vegetables, such, as citrus fruit, by cutting the fruit into small segments, for instance by quartering it, and then pressing these quartered sections. I maintain ments in their passage between, the surfaces which periorm the squeezing. .fl'his guide means; vmay be-in the form of a trough which fits the segment of fruit being extractedflFor instance, where segments of quartered fruit are used the walls of the guideway will form substantially a V is largely inhibited.

gradually flattening out the peel duringits passage through the squeezing mechanism, and secondly by having the peel area suificiently small so that it does not have to be subjected to severe bending forces and thus the tendency of the oil sacs to rupture and discharge the essential oils In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a flow sheet illustrating one form of my process Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken through a' diagrammatic form of apparatus which I may employ;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view 3-3 of Fi .2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig.2;

taken along the line Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 of Fig. 2.

The whole citrus fruit, 'forinstance 'where oranges are beingextracted, is quartered, and the quartered sections, which I have shown by the numeral I, are passed into a chute 2, whose sides form an angle with each other of approximately 90, as is shown in Fig. 3. The seed sac side of the' segment contacts the side walls of the chute 2. and the peel portion ofthe segment is adapted to bear against the periphery 3 of a the peel in contact with one surface and the cut angle to each other at the start of the process.

The guideway becomes flattened as the segment is pressed and a seed extracting section is provided. The whole operation is carried on in the presence of inert gas, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, or a mixture of the two, or other inert gases. 7 By making the segments of the fruit compararotating element 4. The movement of the rotating element 4 in the direction indicated by the arrow will cause the segments l of fruit to be carried along as illustrated by arrows 5. The trough 2 is gradually flattened out, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. In- Fig. 4 the angle formed by the side'sioi' the trough 2 is shown to be about In Fig. 5 the trough has become flattened out.

trough 2, the segment is gradually flattened, as

illustrated in the drawings, until it reaches a housing 8 which is provided with interior shoulders l0 upon which rest packing element ll against which bear the periphery 3 of the rotating element 4 and flanges I 2 which are formed During the passage of the segment I along the at right angles to the surface 3. Because of this construction there is a gas-tight fit between the rotating element 4 and the housing 9. At

the point l3 wherethe end of the trough 2 pro- J'ects outside of flap, not shown, is provided, pr some other construction which will permit the entrance of the segments of fruit i without permitting escape of a large quantity of the inert gas, such as CO2, which is fed into the casing 9 through an aperture ll formed therein. r The extractedjuice ,na seeds are collected in a pool l formed at the lowermost point of the casing 9, and can be discharged through an outlet it formed'at that point. Though the form of device diagrammatically illustrated is adapted to receive quartered fruit, it is obvious that fruit of other size than quarter size may be used. It is desirable that the cut surface of the fruit contact the sides of the chute or trough 2, but this is not absolutely necessary .as the pressure exerted by the operation is such as to cause the cut surface of the, fruit to quickly conform to the shape of the trough 2. Obviously some carbon dioxide or other inert gas will be lost at the point i3, but since the pressure of the inert gas is not high and also by reason of the flap provided at this point undue loss of inert gas is obviated.

After the juice leaves the aperture 98 at the bottom of the apparatus, it is strained in an oxygen free atmosphere, preferably in an atmosphere of inert gas, and may either then be canned under non-oxidizing conditions and then pasteurized in the containers, or alternately the strained juice may be flash pasteurized and canned under conditions to prevent oxidation of the juice. V

While I have shown diagrammatically one form of my process, it is obvious that other forms of process may be employed which lie within the spirit of the invention, and I therefore desire that the invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims and the showing of the prior art.

I claim:

1. In a method of extracting juice from citrus fruit, cutting the whole fruit into wedge sections, and gradually flattening the sections by pressure exerted in the direction normal to the peel surface of the-sections to extract the juice without rupturing the peel under non-oxidizing conditions. v

2. In a method of extracting juice from citrus fruit, cutting the whole fruit into wedge sections,

passing the sections into an atmosphere of inert gas and flattening gradually the sections while in the atmosphere of inert gas by pressure exerted in the direction normal'to the peel surface of the sections. to extract-the juice without rupturing the peel.

3. In a method of extracting juice from citrus fruit, cutting the fruit into wedge sections, and moving the sections between converging surfaces with one of said surfaces in engagement with the peel, surface of .the .wedge sections 'to flatten gradually the sections to extract the juice without rupturing the peel under non-oxidizing conditions.

4. A method of extracting juice from citrus fruit comprising the steps of quartering the fruit, and flattening gradually the quartered fruit by pressure exerted inthe direction normal to the peel surface of the sections to extract the juice without rupturing the peel in an atmosphere of inert gas.

the casing 9,,a suitable rubber 5 of inert gas, passing the sections between a mov-- able surface and a stationary surface forming a gradually decreasing passageway with the surface of the peel in contact with the movable surface thereby extracting the juice by pressure without rupturing the peel in the atmosphere of inert gas. r

- 6. A processof extracting juice from citrus fruit comprising cutting the fruit into wedge sections, moving the sections into an atmosphere of inert gas, passing the sections between a movable surface and a stationary surface forming a gradually decreasing passageway with the surface of the peel in contact with the movable surface thereby extracting the juice by pressure without rupturing the peel in the atmosphere of inert gas and discharging the peel from the passageway after the juice has been extracted.

7. A process of extracting juice from citrus fruit comprising quartering the fruit, passing the quartered fruit between a movable surface and a stationary surface that gradually converges towards the movable surface with the peel surface of the fruit in contact with the movable surface thereby extracting the juice by pressure without rupturing the peel in the presence of an inert gas.

8. A process of extracting juice from citrus fruit comprising quartering the fruit, passing the quartered fruit between a movable surface and a stationary surface that gradually converges toward the movable surface. with the peel surface of the fruit in contact with the movable surface thereby extracting the juice by pressure without rupturing the peel in the presence of an inert gas, and discharging the peel from the surface after the juice has been extracted.

9. In a method of extracting juice from citrus extracted.

10. In a method of extracting juice from citrus fruit the steps of. cutting the fruit into wedge sections, moving the sections into an atmosphere of inert gas, passing the sections between a movable surface and a stationary surface forming a gradually decreasing passageway with the peel surface in contact with the movable surface thereby extracting the juice by pressure without rupturing the peel in the atmosphere of inert gas, collecting the extracted juice in a zone of inert gas thereby preventing its oxidation, and discharging the peel from the passageway after the juice has been extracted.

11. In a method of extracting juice from citrus fruit comprising the steps of quartering the whole fruit, passing the quartered fruit between a mov- 4 able surface and a stationary surface that gradually converges toward the movable surface with the peel surface of the quartered fruit in contact with the movable surface, thereby extracting the juice by pressure without rupturing the peel in the presence of an inert gas, collecting the extracted juice in the presence of an inert gas and thereby preventing oxidation of the juice, and

discharging the peel from the surface after the juice has been extracted.

12. A method of extracting juices from citrus fruit comprising cutting the whole fruit into wedge sections, passing the sections into an at mosphere of inert gas,- moving the sections lengthwise between a movable surface and a stationary surface which gradually converges toward the movable surface with the peel surface of the sections in frictional engagement with the movable surface and the cut surface of the sections supported by the stationary surface for sliding movement with respect thereto, thereby gradually flattening the sections while straightening the peel to extract the juices without rupturing the peel in the atmosphere of inert gas.

RONALD B. MCKINN'IS 

